Air Zimbabwe

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Air Zimbabwe

IATA UM	ICAO AZW	Callsign AIR ZIMBABWE
Founded		1967
Hubs		Harare International Airport
Focus cities		Bulawayo, Victoria Falls, Johannesburg
Fleet size		5
Destinations		15
Headquarters		Harare, Zimbabwe
Key people		Charles Muchenje
Website: [2]

Air Zimbabwe 767-2NO(ER) Z-WPF. Photo taken at Kuala Lumpur International Airport

Air Zimbabwe is the national airline of Zimbabwe, based in Harare. It operates services in southern Africa, to Asia, and to Europe. Its main base is Harare International Airport (HRE).

1 History
2 Destinations
3 Fleet
4 External links
5 References

[edit] History

The airline was established on 1 September 1967 as Air Rhodesia after Central African Airways Corporation was dissolved and started operations in 1967. It became Air Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1978 and then Air Zimbabwe in April 1980 when the Republic of Zimbabwe gained independence. It began services on 2 April 1980 to London Gatwick. Air Zimbabwe took over the freight airline Affretair in 1983. It was privatised in 1997. The initial fleet of five Boeing 707 sourced from Lufthansa replaced the Boeing 720 aircraft used by Air Rhodesia. These 707s joined the remaining Vickers Viscount fleet and a few Douglas DC-3, which were phased out in the 1980s. Three Boeing 737 aircraft were ordered from Boeing in the mid 1980s to enhance regional routes. Long haul operations which were the 707's domain, were gradually phased out in the early to mid 1990s and replaced with two Boeing 767 aircraft which are still in service today. A British Aerospace BAe 146 was added to the fleet from the air force in the 1980s. Fokker 50s were used for a while and the BAe 146 has been grounded for some time.

In 2005 the airline bought two MA-60 turboprop from China which were supplemented by a third donated example in 2006 to operate domestic and short regional routes. It was announced in 2006 that the government had ordered 5 Ilyushin Il-96 aircraft from Russia (2 passenger and 3 freight versions) to replace the ageing 767s. However, after talks with Russian authorities, the order was cancelled. The Chinese MA-60 aircraft have been prone to technical faults resulting in some emergency landings. Efforts to keep these aircraft airworthy have resulted in one of the 3 aircraft being cannibalised for parts. Apparently, the type's unreliability has led even the president to refuse to fly in them.^[1]

In 2003 it was reported that Air Zimbabwe had been surviving on a shoe string budget and at the mercy of local and international banks. In February 2004 it was reported that Air Zimbabwe had been temporarily suspended by IATA over unpaid debt. In November 2004 a Harare to Beijing service was started. The Beijing service flies twice weekly via Singapore. In April 2006 it was reported that passenger numbers had fallen from 1 million in 1999 to 230 thousand in 2005. Acting chief executive Captain Oscar Madombwe blamed the decline on negative publicity about the political and economic situation in the country, safety concerns among travellers (which he claimed were unjustified), and shortages of hard currency, new equipment and fuel.^[2]

In October 2006, prices on Air Zimbabwe flights rose 500% due to inflation increasing to over 1,000%. The Zimbabwean Central Bank said at that time it could not continue to support Air Zimbabwe and other money-losing state companies.^{[citation needed]} The airline has increased its domestic and international fares between 200% and 500% in an apparent attempt to stay solvent. Prices are reported by the airline to have increased due to the need to pay for fuel, spare parts, and catering with foreign currency, which is in short supply^[3]

Air Zimbabwe has a new CEO who promises a better airline in the future.

[edit] Destinations

Main article: Air Zimbabwe Destinations

[edit] Fleet

**Air Zimbabwe Fleet**
Aircraft	Total	Passengers (Rainbow/Economy)	Notes
BAe 146-200	1	101 (12/89)	Short haul
Boeing 737-200	2	105 (12/93)	Short haul regional routes
Boeing 767-200ER	2	203 (30/173)	Long haul international and intercontinental routes
Total Number of Aircraft	5	Updated: March 2007

Other aircraft:

3 Xian MA60 (as of late June 2006 2 were temporarily out of service due to a shortage of spare parts and an emergency landing made at Victoria Falls Airport by one of the planes.^[4] Zimbabwe has never been able to have all three of the new planes running at the same time and as of mid July 2006 all three were out of action.^[5]

The following orders are said to be cancelled.